Home / Poker News October 2011 / The Poker Grapevine – Swiss Bank Accounts Raided
The Poker Grapevine – Swiss Bank Accounts Raided
Posted by: James Carter. - Sat, 2011-10-15 02:39
The wheels of Swiss justice seem to have been put in motion by the Black Friday indictments. According to local newspapers, around $20 million was seized by the Swiss justice ministry, money which was apparently connected with online poker sites, and with the 10 people inducted on Black Friday.
The Manhattan US Attorney’s office has added an amendment to the Black Friday complaint against the online poker companies, singling out Full Tilt Poker board members Rafe Furst, Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson. A warrant has also been issued regarding the seizure of the accounts of Ferguson, Lederer and Furst. Exactly which of these guys was the owner of the seized Swiss funds is currently unknown. What is known though is that one of the accounts discovered by the FBI and subsequently seized was one at Pictet and Co. Bankers.
In other news: two members of the Team Americas which Phil Hellmuth had put together for the Caesars’ Cup have apparently dropped out, so the captain of the team was forced to promote two other players to take their places. According to a tweet by Phil Hellmuth, one of the players who dropped out was Doyle Brunson, who – for some reason – failed to make it to Cannes. Hellmuth says he’ll bring in a ‘young gun’ to replace Tex Dolly in Jason Mercier. Mercier’s tournament record certainly makes him a prime candidate for the spot.
The other player who won’t be making the trip is Huck Seed. Seed will be replaced by yet another young gun on the roster: Ben Lamb. Lamb has been something of an unstoppable force this year, playing phenomenally through the WSOP and finishing deep in quite a few other events.
Hellmuth himself has been riding a heater this year and with players like Johnny Chan and Daniel Negreanu completing the picture, the future does indeed look bleak for the Bertrand Grospellier-led European team.
